St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-09-11

this country for the presentation OF
grand opera in manner rivaling and
even surprising the efforts of foreign
artists. and the appreciation is also here.
That has been proven time and time
again.
With the conjunction of these two
necessary elements we hope the time is
not far distant when an American opera
company, which shall be all that the
name implies, will present itself for
popular approval and we 90 not see
how. under these conditions, the YER
dict can be anything but favorable.
THE WOMAN NOT GUILTLESS.
In faithful discharge of a duty to
furnish the people with news the news
papers have recently been compelled to
dish up great deal of Salicious reading
matter in publishing the details of
offenseS which it would have been more
agreeable to have omitted. Between
them MURRY and Hal. REID and Par
son SEYMOUR have contributed enough
sensation of this character to last one
community for full generation. Each
case has had woman in it, and, as
usual, an indulgent and chiyalric public
stands ready to exonerate the female
and to cast the whole blame upon the
male villain of the caste. This speaks
well for the chivalrouS tendency of the
age and the generosity of mankind in
general, in manifesting such a willing
disposition to eSpouse the quarrel of a
weaker party. But is it just? This is
question we have propounded and
propose to answer it without
intending our remarks to apply to the
cases or the parties above mentioned.
What we shall have to say is wholly in
dependent of the MURRY case, the
REID episode, or the SEYMOUR elope-
ment.
Are the women wholly guiltless in the
numerous scandals which are shocking
society just now? Take for illustration
the case of an clipping married woman
who deserts her home and family to
maintain illicit relations with stranger.
Grant that the man with whom she
elopes is the blacklist of villains, pro-
feSSional roue who has brought to bear
all the accomplished arts of the seducer
to win her heart and ruin her reputa-
ton. Still the woman is not blameleSS,
because the tempter never invades the
paradise of Woman'S virtue until she
herself has first manifested a willing
ness to suffer his presence. There must
first be willing ear before base pro-
posals can be poured into it. The
libertine knows his game before he goes
in pursuit of it. He is a cowardly
wretch who never dares to ply his hell
ish arts until he is first assured of en-
enlargement. And it is just here that
women who fall are partly responsible
for their destruction. No woman was
ever seduced that didn't first encourage
the Seducer. While there is no pallia-
ton of the crime of the seducer it is
false sense of chiyalry which prompts
the wasting of so much sympathy on a
lot of bad women who are doing an
equal share with the bad men in keep
ing the social world in a constant up
roar. All this talk about women being
brought under meSmeric spell is bosh.
There is no meSmerism about it, except
the evil disposition planted by the devil
in the human heart and the individuals
willingness to give rein to it.
In this connection it is proper to sug-
gest that a woman cannot be too guarded
in her conduct. A great many women
have an idea that Irritation is an inno-
cent amusement. 1t is at this point so
many of them make fatal mistake. 1t
is the first step toward removing the
barriers which are the protectian of fe-
male purity. A second and more
dangerous step is when a married
woman listens without resentment to
expressions of endearment from a man
other than her husband. A woman
whose vanity exceeds her honor is the
one who usually falls. So that while
the man who is involved in these scan
dalS is none the less criminal the woman
is not wholly blameless. And it some
times occurs that the woman over whose
fall so many sympathetic tears are shed,
is the more criminal of the two.